City Life Starter

Written by Megan Meier

The Word

“14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.’ 15 But she said to her, ‘Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?’ Rachel said, ‘Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.’ 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, ‘You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’ So he lay with her that night. 17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, ‘God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.’ So she called his name Issachar. 19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, ‘God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.’ So she called his name Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah. 22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, ‘God has taken away my reproach.’ 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, ‘May the Lord add to me another son!’” Genesis 30:14-24 ESV

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 ESV

Megan’s Musings

Reuben is about five years old, old enough to be aware of his mother’s unhappiness, maybe he understood the reason (kids know a lot more than they let on), and thought the purple flowers would cheer his mother up. It was believed that the fruit of mandrakes were an aphrodisiac and a female fertility stimulant (like how some people believe crystals have powers, spoiler alert: they don’t). The Hebrew word for mandrake is dudaim, or love-plant. Rachel isn’t immune to the superstition. She is not asking for all of the mandrakes, just some, and asked politely. Leah’s response indicates she is not above envy either. 

Back then a woman’s worth was determined by how many children, namely sons, she bore. God knew Leah’s situation, she was Laban’s pawn and unloved by Jacob, so God allowed her to have seven children, six sons and one daughter. Rachel is willing to put herself at her sister’s mercy for the chance of a child, and even prostitute Jacob. 

Leah wants Jacob’s love and Rachel wants a child. Or to put it another way, Leah wants love and Rachel wants honor, each sister has what the other wants. The deal will not grant either woman their respective wishes. Instead, Leah gets another son, one in which she “paid” for, and Rachel gets a long night’s sleep with hallucinations and vomiting (mandrakes are actually poisonous, they have a narcotic, sedative, and hallucinogenic property and can induce vomiting or even death, just say no to mandrake fruit). 

The names of the children have meanings. Issachar is considered to be paid for, although Leah sees giving her slave Zilpah as Jacob’s fourth wife as self-sacrificing, it was actually done out of selfish intent and competitiveness with Rachel (Genesis 30:9). Zebulun means gift and honor. Leah does not give an explanation for her daughter’s name, Dinah is the female equivalent of Dan, meaning vindicate (and she will be vindicated later in Genesis 34).  

After many years, Rachel has her prayers answered and bears a son, Joseph. His name means, may he add, Rachel wanted another son, she would get her wish, but at the cost of her life (Genesis 35:16-18). 

Leah wants love and Rachel wants honor. But what is love and what is honor?  These two words have been twisted and manipulated for millennia. Love is not getting attention from another person, it is not physical attraction or sexual excitement, neither is it something to say to get something from another. Honor is not simply doing a person’s bidding or blindly following the status quo. Love is wanting what is best for the other person. Honor is respect and high esteem, adherence to what is right. Jesus changed the world’s definition of love and honor, and even clarified what God intended it to be. His Honor of the Father’s will, difficult as it was, made Him continue with His Mission (Mark 14:35-36). Love kept Jesus on the cross, He knew without His Sacrifice, we would be forever lost and without hope. 

Application

What do you desire above all else? It’s okay to be honest, in fact, I encourage you to be; this is just between you and God. It could be, like Leah or Rachel, the desire for love or honor. The words love and honor aren’t the only ideals that have been twisted and turned. Even today, the truth has been twisted and lies have been disguised as truth. But we can find absolute Truth in the Bible. Any time you have doubts about what someone or the world declares as true, look to the Bible, it always speaks Truth. 

Prayer

            Dear Lord, thank You for Your absolute Truth in the Bible. Help me to counteract any worldly lies with Your Truth. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.